The Museum of Very Bad Smells: A Dare to Scratch 'n' Sniff Mystery

Written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

Katherine Tegen Books

978-0-063271449

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

July, 2024

 

Though we might all pooh-pooh a museum of very bad smells, I'll bet the premise will delight young readers who enjoy a frisson of irreverence in their stories. And if irreverence comes in the form of farts and toilet humour, all the better.

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

Yes, there is a Museum of Very Bad Smells, and it has suffered a great loss: the World Famous Rotten Egg has been stolen! The hamster gallery attendant or perhaps docent, has a mystery to solve and readers are invited to help. Throughout the book, there are spots where readers are invited to scratch and sniff. But what will the clues tell us? And who are the suspects?

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

The possible suspects include a busy dung beetle curator named Beetle; TJ, a mouse who works in the gift shop; Pickles, the wet dog; and Herman, a hermit crab and the docent's boss. Using his very fine nose for smells, the kepi-wearing hamster begins to follow the clues, and they are some very stinky ones, according to his telling comments. (I'm reviewing this book from an epub so cannot attest to the malodorous whiff that might arise from scratching the spot clues.) And though the hamster detective initially eliminates all the suspects, his sense of scents leads him to each of his museum colleagues. 

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

But in a Museum of Very Bad Smells there is a plethora of stinky exhibits, from onions and Pickles the farting dog, to dirty socks and wet sneakers, and loads to throw our intrepid detective and his assistants, the readers, off the scent. (Or is it onto the scent?) Fortunately, his very capable sniffer finds the culprit and a new exhibit for the Museum.

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

I recently lauded Monica Arnaldo for her picture book Mr. S, a perfect first-day-of-school book. Just as she got into the heads of very young children heading to school for the first time and not knowing what to expect, including the possibility that a sandwich might be their teacher, Monica Arnaldo knows that kids will love, love, love The Museum of Very Bad Smells and laugh, laugh, laugh as they scratch and sniff and solve the mystery of the missing rotten egg. Her story is hysterical and, while I'm thankful I didn't need to scratch and smell anything, I know children will find it a hoot to do just that. (Be prepared: there's no lavender or bubble gum smells here.) 

From The Museum of Very Bad Smells, written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

Her art is as playful as the text. This museum is a blend of bold and busy, colour and shape. Monica Arnaldo makes us look at and into each exhibit, follow the detective's progress, and sniff for clues, always helping readers find those sniffing spots with a tiny pointing hand. And her characters have so much individuality. From the sullen hermit crab carrying his herring tin around–for mystery lovers, you'll notice it's a red herring tin–and the defensive TJ and guilty-looking Pickles, so big and so loved and so much a dog, Monica Arnaldo makes us see a motley group of potential suspects and become part of her story of mystery.

 

The Museum of Very Bad Smells has everything a kid would want in a picture book: laughs, stinks, animals, illustrations with lots of details, colour, and a puzzle to solve. They might not be able to find the missing rotten egg on their own, but they'll be pleased to be part of the investigation. It might even encourage them to visit a real museum, though I think they'll be hard-pressed to locate one dedicated to offensive odours.

Spider in the Well

Written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan

Katherine Tegen Books (An Imprint of HarperCollins)

978-0-063289475

48 pp.

Ages 4-8

March 2024

 

The people of Bad Göodsburg have a problem: their wishing well is broken. The newsboy who delivers the papers–and sweeps the chimneys, delivers the milk, and shines the shoes–is tasked with one more job: find out what is wrong with the well. And when he hears about the charitable wishes of the baker, the doctor, and the shopkeeper, he is determined to ensure those wishes are granted.

From Spider in the Well, written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan

Making his way to the well, the boy learns that a spider in the well has been responsible for the well not working. But, though the spider was just being a spider, building a web that happens to catch the coins, it's what he reveals to the newsboy that truly gets the boy irate and screaming, "Unbelievable!" and demanding justice.

From Spider in the Well, written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan

But what justice needs to be achieved? And how will the town's newsboy and lackey ensure that righteousness prevails?

Without giving away the story of Spider in the Well, let me assure readers that this is more than a cautionary tale about being careful what you wish for. And it's not because wishes might be ill-advised. It's because people and their wishes are not always benevolent. Sometimes wishes are selfish and rooted in vanity, greed, and worse, and no one wants to be seen as less than virtuous. The fine citizens of Bad Göodsburg hide behind false virtues and are taken down by a spider and a boy who may be or may not be similarly ethically challenged.

From Spider in the Well, written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan

Jess Hannigan's tale of wishes gone wrong has the tone of a fable or even a fairy tale. It's told with a host of archetypes, from the self-righteous townspeople to the put-upon boy who overcomes unjust treatment to be rewarded in the end. There's even the anthropomorphic spider who helps the boy triumph. And for each one of these characters, Jess Hannigan gets the voices right, and gives the story a tone of reparation rather than of grifting. (You'll see what I mean when you read the ending.)

From Spider in the Well, written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan

Hamilton's Jess Hannigan is an illustrator–this is her first picture book as author-illustrator–and her digital artwork, strong in shape and colour, makes the story even more powerful. By creating characters and scenes that are both simplified and complex in content and perspective, Jess Hannigan draws us into the story and helps us to see the circumstances as the boy does. She has a striking style of soft but bold lines that create tension while keeping the reader sympathetic to the boy, something that is more easily achieved by drawing the townspeople as oddly shaped and weirdly coloured.

 

So, if there's a moral to the story of Jess Hannigan's Spider in the Well, it's to be careful what you wish for because you never know who may be listening. On the plus side, sometimes one person's wishes result in just rewards for another. Just ask the newsboy of Bad Göodsburg, now happily retired.

• • • • • • •

Consider checking out one of several book launches Jess Hannigan will have in Ontario for Spider in the Well.

 

Thursday, March 21, 2024

6:30 PM

Type Books Junction

2887 Dundas St. W., Toronto

 

Sunday, April 7, 2024

1 PM

Epic Books

226 Locke Street S., Hamilton

Mr. S: A First Day of School Book

Written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

Katherine Tegen Books (An Imprint of HarperCollins)

978-0-06-300395-8

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

June 2023

 

When is a sandwich more than sandwich? How about when it's a teacher and called Mr. S. Or is it?

From Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo

When the children arrive for their first day of class in room 2B they are met by...no one! Of course, they know they should have a teacher but the only indications that a teacher is around is a steaming mug of coffee, a sandwich, and "Mr. S" written on the board. The perplexed children are divided what to do until a loud slap of a ruler hitting the ground, from beside the sandwich, grabs their attention and they start to wonder. With that and the connection to Mr. S–it must be Mr. Sandwich, right?–the students feel compelled to do an alphabet lesson on sandwich types, an art class, a music class, and storytelling, even giving an errant boy lines to write.

From Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo

Unbeknownst to them, there is a story going on outside their window in the gloom of a thunderstorm. The man who'd been in their classroom before they arrived–this was on the title page– is dealing with mayhem upon mayhem with his car in the parking lot. There's a whole farce happening out there, including everything from lightning and pizzas, a sympathetic raccoon or two, and a fire. For the man, it goes from bad to worse. And when he finally does show up, it's still not clear whether the sandwich has been in charge all along.

From Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo

Okay, let's forget that a class would never be left unattended, especially a kindergarten class and not on the first day of school when kids are normally greeted by their teachers outside before being led into the school. Let's forget that because this is fiction and suspending reality is necessary to make this story so charming. But that's me as an adult and a teacher who knows how things are supposed to be. But these are little kids on their first day. What do they know? And look at that sandwich with its olive eyes, bologna tongue and lettuce ears or hair. It looks like a face. And the name on the board did say "Mr. S." Those children were actually quite clever putting the clues together. They were even more clever for directing their own instruction, albeit very sandwich-based. 

 

Montreal's Monica Arnaldo has written a quirky story of a class being taught by a sandwich but it's surprisingly plausible, especially since children can come up with some pretty fantastic ideas when presented with unusual clues. These kids are a hoot, policing themselves under the watchful eyes of a sandwich, learning the alphabet–could you find a sandwich for each letter of the alphabet?–and creating artwork that emulates great artists like Warhol, Banksy and perhaps Rothko. These kids have character, from differences in their mobility–one child is in a wheelchair and another uses purple forearm crutches–to their shapes, sizes and colours, and their attitudes which range from silly and playful to studious and bossy. Monica Arnaldo has given us real children, and, for them, Mr. Sandwich is just as real, even giving them fodder for debate about different kinds of teachers.

From Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo

The art is as playful as the story and there's so much to find in Monica Arnaldo's digital illustrations created with watercolour, coloured pencils and ink. Whether it's the details in the classroom, like the children reading from Monica Arnaldo's picture book Are You a Cheeseburger?, or the endpapers of children's lunch bags and teacher photos, and definitely the drama happening outside in the parking lot, there is humour and reality that will put a smile on every reader's face and a chuckle in their belly. (And I haven't even given away the ending which will surprise and make children wonder.)

Here's to Mr. S, the sandwich and the book, to all the teachers who guide and inspire and delight, and to the children who find learning opportunities in the most unconventional circumstances.

Crash: The Game, Book 3

by Eve Silver

Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins

978-0-06-219219-6

357 pp.

Ages 13+

June 2015

If you haven't read Rush and Push, Books 1 and 2 respectively of Eve Silver's The Game trilogy, do read them first.  Crash will be all the more enjoyable with the background gleaned from the first two books.  And you'll see why Rush won the 2015 White Pine award of the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading readers' choice award program.


><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Everything that teen Miki Jones thought she knew about the game–in which she and boyfriend Jackson and friend Luka are pulled into by the Committee to fight the alien Drau–comes crashing down in Crash, Eve Silver's final book of her The Game trilogy.

As debilitating and off-centering as the car crash that has landed both Miki's father and her best friend Carly clinging to life in hospital, so is Miki's understanding of how the game works after she finds herself telepathically communicating with an unarmed Drau who pleads for mercy.  This is not the enemy they’ve all been told about.  And now there’s some weird stuff going on in the game, with the players feeling sluggish and images breaking up into pixels, and then it’s not even being played the way they’ve learned it to be.  Even outside the game, Miki keeps getting this creepy feeling like she’s being watched.

So not only is she worrying about her father and Carly and maybe even Jackson leaving her like so many important people in her life already have, now she is brought before the Committee who question her about that encounter with the Drau.  Fortunately, Jackson's sister, Lizzie, who had died in the game but has connected with Miki from a different dimension, instructs Miki how to keep the Committee from getting inside her head and taking over all her memories.

Everything is a muddle.  How is Miki to reconcile what she knows, what she believes, what she feels, and what Jackson says and does, with what they are being told?  Too many inconsistencies and the feeling of being manipulated has Miki on a trajectory to crash through everything she knows or thinks she knows.

Crash is a fitting conclusion, wrapping up The Game trilogy with a very convincing resolution to the story of manipulation for entertainment purposes by an almost omnipotent entity.  And while Eve Silver reassures the reader that there are happy endings for seemingly ill-fated couples and that for those repeatedly overwhelmed by loss it is not endless,  The Game trilogy is a cautionary tale of finding enjoyment in war and destruction, even if it seems to be only in an action-packed role-playing game.  Enjoy the action of the story, including a number of cliff-hangers, but heed its subtle message.  Eve Silver has shared it so expressively, making it worthy of noting.

Push: The Game, Book 2

by Eve Silver

Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins

978-0-06219221-9(hc)

978-0-06219218-9 (ebook) 

978-1-46767679-3 (audio)

352 pp.

Ages 13-17

June, 2014

Reviewed from Harper Audio edition

When Miki Jones last saw her new boyfriend Jackson Tate, they'd been pulled from their high school reality to fight the alien Drau yet again, and she'd witnessed Jackson's death.  Upon her return, with no time evidently passing, Jackson does not respawn with her, suggesting he is truly gone. Strangely he has not been wiped from anyone's memory, and his car and keys are still at the pizza place, which should not happen if he'd died.

Luka, who is also part of the Game, (see my review of Rush for an explanation about how teens are pulled into it), suggests that Jackson may not be dead but being dealt with by the Committee for breaking one of their many rules. Regardless, she is now the team leader and making decisions for Luka, Tyrone, Kendra and Lien when they get pulled next to fight the Drau. This fight with the Drau reveals even more questions for Miki, beyond where Jackson is.  Why are Kendra's scores so high for a player who is so terrified and hangs back? Why are there so many similarities between video games they play and the Game? And is the girl with the green eyes who saves Miki's life really Jackson's dead sister Lizzie or a Drau shell in Lizzie's image?

When Miki respawns, uninjured, to meet with the Committee, she learns that they have Jackson and are attempting to "discipline" him for inappropriate actions.  Even though Miki is in love with Jackson, she is very honest about his actions and she debates with the Committee about their own recklessness and leadership responsibilities.  They may respect her arguments but when given a choice, Miki can do nothing else but remain in the Game.

Though Jackson and Miki are reunited shortly thereafter, their relationship continues to be strained with new circumstances, including the Drau breaking into Miki and Jackson's living world at a school Halloween dance, with the suspicious attention two girls at school begin to have in Miki and Jackson, and their choices about revealing certain truths and not others.  Yep, a completely natural teen relationship with some alien-fighting game to add more tension.

I realized how annoyed I was getting at Miki for her continuous flip-flopping about trusting Jackson: Is he really into her?  Is he telling her the truth about everything? Can she trust him with her secrets? Will he put her in jeopardy with his choices? Should she tell him about his sister?  One minute she is defending him to the death, thrilled to be in his arms, and then she's condemning him for not telling her everything which must indicate how he feels about her.  But, I realized that Miki who admittedly has anxiety issues is reacting as a person who has experienced trauma: her mother died from lung cancer, her father is now drinking excessively and denying his addiction, and Miki is part of a game that requires that she annihilate scary and powerful Drau who want to take over her world. Her irritability and mood swings are actually the least of her problems, especially when she really doesn't have anyone she can talk to about all of it.

Sadly, for Miki, Eve Silver takes her even closer to the edge by the end of Push, although this is fortunate for readers of The Game.  The heart-stopping action of the Game itself will have readers expecting the Drau to appear at any moment, even more so after they push into the teens' reality and civilians such as Miki's best friend Carly can end up in the Game without being pulled by the Committee.  The changing rules make everyone a little more jittery and defensive.  It's hard to be on the offensive when you don't know what the rules are anymore.  And by creating a self-righteous, all-knowing committee to oversee the Game, Push becomes part of an allegory about war and power. Eve Silver takes Rush and Push beyond the video game-scenario and into a global sphere in which humans are simply pawns and terror can be used to control them. Thankfully Miki and Jackson's romance is the one bright light that suggests that love may triumph over all. But we will need to wait until 2015 when Crash, the third book in The Game series comes out to see whether this is ultimately true.

Rush: The Game, Book 1

by Eve Silver

Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins

978-0-06219213-4 (hc)

978-0-06219216-5 (ebook) 

364 pp.

Ages 13-17

June, 2013

Reviewed from Harper Audio version

Just before she dashes in front of a truck to save a deaf little girl in the road, teen Miki Jones is sure she hears someone call her name.  And it isn't Luka, the boy on the track who her group is watching, who rushes to save Miki.  But when she awakens, wondering if she's alive or dead, in heaven or somewhere else, Miki is introduced to the young man with that voice, Jackson Tate.  Unfortunately, he doesn't answer a lot of her questions, taking her healed self to the lobby, a clearing with large boulders where she meets their other team members: Luka; a red-haired cheerleader Rochelle; and Tyrone, a young man in his 20's.  Here Miki is told the basics of the game, as Luka calls it, in which members of their team have been "pulled" from real life, initially by apparent death, through time and space to complete missions against aliens known as the Drau.  If they are successful in eliminating the Drau wherever they've been sent, and have survived, as indicated by the colours of their wristbands, they are respawned and returned to their lives as if no time has passed.  

It's a steep learning curve for Miki who learns the rules of the game; how to gear up with weaponry; to avoid looking into the mercury-like eyes of the Drau; and how to fight.  Luckily Miki has two things in her favour: she is proficient in the martial art of kendo, and Jackson is always watching out for her.  In fact, upon her respawn, Miki discovers that Jackson is a new student at her high school, which is lucky because she has a lot of questions and confusion and Luka is apprehensive about talking about it outside the game. Unfortunately, her best friend Carly sees Miki as interested in both Luka and Jackson, and her uninformed perception puts their friendship in jeopardy.  

It hardly seems fair that Miki, who is already struggling with her mother's death from lung cancer and her father's consequent alcoholism and denial, should be plunged into an alternate world to fight aliens who want to take over all of humanity.  But, it doesn't seem like she has any choice, learning that both she and Jackson have ancestors who fought the Drau and it is in their genetic memory to do the same.  This exceptionality serves to help them anticipate attacks by sensing the Drau, but may also be their doom.  With escalating raids by the Drau, and Jackson's role in Miki's summoning to the community, the bond that has grown between the two seems destined to be challenged. 

Just as there seems to be little time for Miki to become acclimatized to her new reality between missions, young readers will find it difficult to rest and synthesize the ever-changing circumstances of Miki's life.  Rush is definitely a thriller, akin to Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, with a strong female protagonist who is thrown into a difficult situation and must continue to think on her feet if she is to stay alive.  Just as gamers might recognize commonalities between their games and Rush's storyline, circumstances change randomly and sometimes irrevocably, and all you can do is play along. Eve Silver has ensured that Miki continues to learn as she plays and to take it all in stride, even if it is evident she hates playing the game but will, if only for the sake of her father.

On her website, www.evesilver.net, Eve Silver reassuringly indicates Books 2 and 3, named Push and Crash respectively, are slotted for release in 2014 and 2015.  Thank goodness, because Rush's conclusion is vexing and one that readers will demand be resolved favourably.  You know what I mean, Eve Silver, right? All others will need to read Rush to make sense of this.   

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I've posted the book trailer for Rush uploaded by Eve Silver to YouTube on June 7, 2013.

Hemlock

by Kathleen Peacock

Katherine Tegen Books (Imprint of HarperCollins)

978-0-06-204865-3

416 pp.

Ages 14+

Available May 8, 2012

(Reviewed from Advance Reader's Edition)

Since the werewolves came out of the mythological closet twelve years earlier, all communities, including Hemlock, have been dealing with accepting those infected with lupine syndrome and the ramifications of their condition.  In Hemlock, which has been home to Mac Dobson since her father, Hank, abandoned her there with her cousin, Tess, three years ago, werewolves have not been a concern.  That is, not until multiple attacks, some fatal, occur within several weeks and culminate with the murder of Amy, Mac's best friend and the granddaughter of Senator John Walsh.  With evidence pointing to a white-haired werewolf, Senator Walsh desperately enlists the services of Brandon Derby and his vigilante Trackers.  Believing that all werewolves are dangerous to regs (uninfected humans), the Trackers, a civilian group usually given free rein by the authorities, violently haul away suspected werewolves and torment anyone who gets in their way.

While the Trackers aggressively pursue infected humans for internment in rehabilitation camps, Mac, her close friend Kyle, and Amy's boyfriend, Jason, all berate themselves for not being there for Amy the night she was killed.  But, each deals differently in the aftermath of her death.  Mac has cryptic discussions with Amy in terrifying nightmares.  Kyle wants to be there for Mac and get closer to her, but he has to deal with his ex, Heather, who hates Mac and keeps demanding Kyle's attention.  And, although Jason's initial reaction is to find comfort in alcohol and outlandish behaviour, his reaction becomes extreme when he decides to join the Trackers. 

As with any great plot, there are secrets withheld from the reader, but it seems everyone is keeping secrets from Mac.  When secrets are revealed, intermittently and usually unceremoniously (as most secrets are), Mac begins to realize that her history affects how she deals with others.  Having a mother who left before her first birthday and living with a father of dubious principles who also abandons her has left Mac reluctant to share too much of herself.  But, she has learned to be watchful, strategic and forbearing, all of which help her make some very astute determinations about Brandon Derby's motives, about Jason's attitudes, and about Amy's death.  As the narrator and central character around which all subplots revolve, Mac carries the story (although all other characters are strong enough to help with this charge).  She is neither naive nor weak, but she is incredulous when she learns more about Kyle, Jason, Amy, and others.  Kathleen Peacock, a new author from New Brunswick (Hemlock is her debut novel), does an exemplary job of developing Mac's voice into that of a bright seventeen-year-old who diligently reflects on the continuously changing circumstances, including the very nature of her friends and friendships.  Nothing Mac decides to do is unbelievable to the reader.  She attacks new dilemmas with honesty and resolve, and willingly accepts the need to amend her actions.

The horror of the werewolf attacks and of the Trackers' vigilantism is tempered with several romances that thankfully stray from typical boy-girl dating.  Surprisingly these budding loves seem completely realistic considering how many young people (and older ones too) are reluctant to share their true feelings.  Rather than comedic misunderstandings feeding the plot, it is the uncertainly and fear of rejection that allow relationships to progress, albeit haphazardly.

Kathleen Peacock makes Mac a true hero.  While Mac, with a little help from her friends, discovers the truth of Amy's death, her story does not end there.  The epilogue, which reveals what Mac feels she must do next in order to evolve into her true self, not the abandoned girl of her childhood, sets up the sequel to Hemlock perfectly.  Personally, I look forward to this next phase in Mac's journey, especially with regards to how Mac, Kyle and Jason resolve their feelings.  Sadly, the official release date for Hemlock is still a few weeks away, and there is no firm release date or even title for the sequel.  Luckily, I'm confident that I'll appreciate the direction Kathleen Peacock will take Mac and her cohorts when the second book of the trilogy is available.